Handscomb has been short of runs recently.

Australia's upcoming series against Pakistan in the UAE is being seen as a make or break series for cricketers from both teams. In such a situation, some key players being shown the axe for the series by the selectors indicates the fact they are only looking at performance as a base for selection.

Peter Handscomb and Glenn Maxwell are two names who are not a part of the team. While Maxwell's omission is surprising, Handscomb on his part has accepted that he did not have the performance behind his back to stake claims for a selection in the side.

Since making an unbeaten century for Victoria in February, Handscomb has been dismissed for a single-figure score nine times from 11 innings, leading selectors to opt for uncapped pair Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne for the series against Pakistan.

Handscomb says the message from selectors was loud and clear from the selectors.

"It's the same old - you've got make runs to be playing for Australia and I haven't been putting numbers on the board that's needed to represent this country," he told cricket.com.au.

"It's obviously tough, getting dropped at any stage hurts and it's happened a couple of times over the last few months for myself. It's not something I'm trying to make a habit of. It's always pretty tough news."

"I was backing myself to score runs in the subcontinent. I had a tough tour (this month) with Australia A in India, but I know I can do it and I've done it before both in India and Bangladesh.

"I was hoping to get the chance in the UAE, but unfortunately it didn't come through."

Regarding his omission from the side, Handscomb said "It hurt a little bit, especially (given) 12 months earlier I was making runs with the exact same technique and there weren't any issues then".

"It was a bit of a shame to have all these comments come out saying it was my technique that was the problem. Maybe it was a contributing factor, but I just wasn't putting runs on the board.

"I've got to make sure I keep my strengths going; I can tinker with a couple of things, but (don't) go away too far from what I know".